This document relates to interpreting search queries.
The Internet provides access to a wide variety of resources, including video or audio files, web pages for particular topics, maps, address information, directions and news articles. A search system can identify resources in response to a text query that includes one or more search terms or phrases. The search system typically ranks the resources based on their relevance to the query and on measures of quality of the resources and provides search results that link to the identified resources. The search results are typically ordered for viewing according to the rank.
Some search systems can be used in conjunction with an online map. For example, some search systems can receive search queries for an address or a location and display the search results on an online map. The online map can display the geographical information associated with the search results in varying levels of granularity that range, for example, from street-level to state-level to country-level. In some cases, the online map can display the geographical information associated with the search result on a continental map or world map.